


Rose of the Resistance

by rudbeckia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Tags will update as each chapter is posted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-21 01:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14905698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: It’s not long after Crait.Rose and Finn return from another mission to infiltrate the First Order. When they land, Finn is whisked off by Poe. Someone is waiting to see Rose too, and a friendship begins.





	1. Exactly what I need

“Punch it!”

Rose yells, Finn throws the lever that launches them to lightspeed, and blue streaks fill the viewport. Safe for now, Rose collapses back into the pilot seat, shakes out her hair and finger-combs the strands free of the tight up-do demanded of her First Order disguise. Finn grimaces and kneels on the co-pilot seat, facing away from Rose.  
“How does it look?” he asks, glancing at Rose’s expression as she leans over to examine the jagged tear in his calf.  
“Eww nasty. Run faster next time we’re being shot at. I better fix you up,” she says, and scrambles out of her seat to fetch a medpack. On her way she steps on the teal command cap she’d worn for their mission to infiltrate the Supremacy during the chaos caused by its repair and find out everything the First Order planned to do about the rebellion. They’d been lucky to get away at all: Finn’s knowledge of how to talk like a First Order officer and Rose’s skill at hacking the shuttle’s security codes then deactivating its inbuilt tracker would have been useless if the stormtrooper who recognised FN-2187 had been any quicker on the uptake.

“You know,” says Rose as she unpacks medical supplies and lays everything out within easy reach on the console beside her, “Paige could run real fast and I could never catch up. She was my hero right up until... Well. She still is but then you were my hero too.” She laughs and Finn winces with pain as Rose snips away the fabric of his stolen First Order uniform, pulls it free of the blood congealing on his skin and sprays antiseptic on his wound. She points at his knuckles, tight and pale because his hands are clenched around the back of the co-pilot seat he’s kneeling on while she sees to the angry gash in his calf. “You’re the stormtrooper who was brave enough to join the rebellion. If I’d known you were this much of a wuss—“ Finn curses and groans as Rose pinches the skin closed and slaps a bacta patch over it. “Maybe I’d’ve hero worshipped someone else.” 

There’s a pause while Rose uses the excuse of taking off her teal uniform tunic to take a breath and set her face into a neutral expression, because there is one hero’s name she still hates to say. Her gut reaction is to blame him, although it makes her feel guilty and she is trying to teach herself not to hate anyone on Paige’s account. Paige would not have approved. 

“Maybe someone like General Dameron. He’s handsome, don’t you think?” 

“I think,” Finn growls out when Rose applies more pressure, more bacta, “you could be a little more gentle with your hero-worship.”  
“Oh silly!” Rose laughs again. “It’s just a cut. Not that deep. You’ll scar but you’ll heal. Anyway, you’re my friend so you can’t be my hero any more. You’re all done.”  
Finn looks back over his shoulder and down, twisting his torso to peer at Rose’s handiwork. He swivels and sits, watching Rose pack away the medkit. “I’m safe, then. When I was your hero you zapped me with your electro-shock prod and knocked me out, you deliberately crashed your monoski into mine to knock me off course and you—“  
“Saved your life at least twice but nobody’s counting,” says Rose with a grin that seems to lift her entire face. Finn can’t hep but smile back at the crinkles around her eyes and the shallow dimples on her cheeks.  
“And I only saved yours once,” he says. “I think, what with being in the resistance and everything, I’ll get to even the score. How long before we’re at the rendezvous coordinates?”  
“Couple hours,” replies Rose, standing up to check the nav. “So. What do you think of the dashing Poe Dameron?”  
“He’s a great friend,” comes Finn’s immediate reply. “We rescued each other. Hell of a pilot. Poe got me away from the First Order.”  
“Mm,” Rose nods. “You told me that story. But...” Rose tilts her head and taps her cheek, “I think you’re missing out the part where Poe Dameron TOTALLY has a crush on you.”  
Finn scoffs. “Whaaaaat? No-o-o-o.” He shakes his head and smiles. “He’s a friend. We’re good friends. Comrades.”  
“Yeah right,” counters Rose, smile hitching up a notch. “So you haven’t noticed that he gets all...” She does a little shoulder-judder and straightens her spine. She deepens her voice to say, “Finn my friend, I mended your jacket for you! Hey, my friend Finn has a really great idea and we should all listen to the melodious sound of his voice. Oh yeah! I should go tell my friend Finn about that idea myself. Hey—“  
“Shut up!” Finn’s laughing now although his cheeks burn. “He does not. Poe sees me as a friend, one who has useful intel on the First Order.” Rose looks skeptical but Finn shushes her and carries on. “He knows that I had the kind of vital role that let me go anywhere and see anything and nobody even noticed I was there.”  
“You were a cleaner!” says Rose with a giggle. Finn giggles right back.  
“Exactly! I was completely invisible.”

Rose checks the nav again and asks Finn if he wants to sleep for an hour. He shakes his head. “My leg throbs too much. You rest if you want.”  
“I’m too jittery after that escape.” Rose’s face clouds and her chin trembles for a few seconds. “It was close.”  
“Hey,” Finn takes her hand and squeezes. “We’ve come through way worse. It’s going to take more than a sharp-eyed stormtrooper and a few TIE-fighters to catch us.”  
Rose accepts a hug and a kiss on her forehead. Finn lets the hug linger and Rose leans against him. It feels comfortable.  
“Tell me about Rey,” Rose asks quietly. “I mean, not the Jedi stuff. What’s she like? As a person?”  
“A-ah!” Finn breathes slowly. “I forgot you didn’t get to meet her.”  
“Stupid coma. Your fault, nerf-brain.” Rose digs her elbow into Finn’s side and he laughs.  
“Whatever.” He takes another deep breath. “Rey is someone I would do anything for. She’s just... she’s incredible. There’s this presence about her that I can’t explain. I mean, you can sense when someone’s alive or dead. You can sense when someone walks into the room. But when Rey walks in, she’s so much more. It’s like when she’s around, everything is more... intense. More vibrant. I’ll kill for the Resistance when I have to. But I’d die for her.”  
Finn can’t see Rose’s sad smile. She thinks she feels bad for Poe.

The navcomputer’s insistent beeping and the lurch as they drop out of hyperspace rouses both Rose and Finn from their opportunistic slumber. Rose pilots them through the system to the second rock orbiting the insignificant star and lands their stolen shuttle in the space allocated for it. She helps Finn lurch down the ramp and tries not to smile too knowingly when Poe is already there to meet them. Poe says a quick welcome back and takes over Finn’s care. She watches Finn limp off with his arm around Poe’s shoulders and Poe’s arm around his waist, voice full of concern in case he’s in pain. She turns to go back into the shuttle to begin a maintenance cycle but another voice calls her, gravelly yet soft, and she walks back down the ramp in a daze, heart beating hard. She knows that voice, but always hears it from a distance.

“Rose?”  
“General Organa!”  
“Leia, please.” Leia smiles and holds out her hand. Rose clasps it for a warm moment. “You did a great job. I wanted to thank you personally. The information in the transmission you sent to us was...” Leia shakes her head slowly and blinks a few times. “...So valuable.”  
Rose chews her lip and looks down. She feels Leia’s searching gaze.  
“I’m sorry it wasn’t better news. Your son—“  
“Is gone. Ben is gone. I know that. But we still need to keep track of... him.”  
Rose raises her eyes to witness sorrow flit across Leia’s face. “I can’t imagine how difficult it is.”  
“I think you can,” replies Leia. “You’ve lost family too. We’ve all mourned people we were close to.”  
There’s an awkward moment where Rose’s mind fills with memories of Paige and she thinks she might cry with how raw her absence still feels. But Leia smiles and it gets a little better.  
“Come with me,” Leia says. “There’s someone who wants to meet you.”

In the base, not much more than a low-roofed, sturdy shed, Rose frowns until the slender, dark-haired girl smiles and then she can’t help smiling back. The girl holds out her hand.  
“I’m Rey.”  
The introduction isn’t needed. Rose thinks her heart might burst right there and she worries about the mess it would make for someone else to clean up. Leia lets out a soft laugh and leaves the room. Rose looks at the offered hand, senses it’s about to be withdrawn, and clasps it before it’s out of reach. The manoeuvre is only a little awkward.  
“I’m Rose,” she says, looking left and right and down. “You know that because you asked to see me. I’m not good at... people stuff.”  
Rose feels Rey’s joy bubble up before it surfaces. “Finn said you’re shy. It’s okay. So am I.”  
There’s another awkward silence then Rose speaks. “So why would you want to meet me? You’re a hero! I’m a nervous nobody and I probably have high-vac grease or something smeared on my face right now.”  
Rey keeps hold of Rose’s hand and leads her to a bench where they sit, half turned toward each other. “You’re not a nobody. Finn told me about what he tried to do on Crait and I wanted to thank you for saving him. He’s the first real friend I ever had and I couldn’t bear to lose him too.” Rey leans forward. “And I’m not a hero. I just do what I have to. I’m nothing.”  
“Not to me!” Rose’s grip tightens and she clasps her other hand around Rey’s so that Rey’s slim hand seems to vanish into Rose’s grip. Rose shakes her head. “You’re everything that gives us hope.”

Rey stiffens when she hears the words ‘not to me’, remembering a moment when she’d heard the same phrase from someone else. Then she feels the sincerity behind Rose’s echo of Kylo Ren’s manipulative words and she relaxes into a smile.  
“I’m not good at talking to people,” admits Rey. “I had no family and I grew up learning to fight over scrap with other scavengers. So I don’t know how to do this.” Rey looks at her hand, warm between Rose’s. “I’ve heard so much about you around the base. Not just from Finn, but from the other pilots and engineers too. Everyone respects you.” Rey brings her free hand up to join Rose in a double hand-clasp. “I wanted to make sure I met you. Properly I mean. Last time you were... and I had to go.” Rey frowns and bites her lip, then lowers her voice. “Your information about Kylo Ren’s location is exactly what I need. Thank you. Leia says the light is gone from him but she’s wrong. I still feel it, buried deep and weak, but he’s not lost. I have to believe that he can still be turned.”  
Rose looks at Rey with a flicker of pity that slides into horror as she realises what Rey is telling her.  
“You’re going after him?” Rose hisses. “You can’t just walk in to see the Supreme Leader of the First Order!”  
“I know,” replies Rey. “That’s why I need your help. Chewie wants to go back to Kashyyyk for a while so I don’t have a co-pilot. I want you to come with me.”


	2. You need a co-pilot

Later, in a rare moment of privacy, Rose kisses her crescent of Haysian Smelt and murmurs, “Pae-Pae, what would you tell me to do?”  
Of course there is no reply, but Rose imagines her sister smiling at her and telling her she’ll make the right decision herself. Rose talks to Paige a lot, she realises, looking around in embarrassment for a lapse that nobody would judge her for.

It’s when she’s deep in the electronics of an A-Wing old enough to be a grandmother that she hears the first opinions about Rey’s offer. She pauses in her cross examination of the fighter’s ancient AI as beeps precede the arrival of an astromech. Rose recognises the pattern of beeps and peers down through the opened hatches below her.  
“Beebee-eight! Hi there! You looking for me?”  
The astromech beeps a greeting and rolls away.  
“Guess not. Too many things for a busy droid to do, huh?”  
Rose shakes her head and sighs at the burnt out circuitry. When she’s done replacing the power linkage and hears herself asking aloud if the A-Wing’s AI feels better, Rose realises she spends a lot of time talking to herself too. As she’s sitting up, stretching her arms out and getting ready to slot all the panels back together, Rose hears one of her engineers talking. She can’t make out what the engineer is saying and she pushes her crouched feet up onto her toes, ready to stand up and holler a greeting out of the cockpit, but another sound makes her pause, holding her breath. It’s Poe Dameron’s voice, unmistakeable, rising above the workshop buzzing and clanking.

It’s not eavesdropping, Rose tells herself as she ducks back into the A-Wing. She just doesn’t want to have to speak to the man who gave the order that led to Paige’s death.

 _”What’s this news about you pilot types taking our Rose away from engineering?”_ Rose smiles when she recognises Riva’s voice.  
_”It’s not me,”_ Poe laughs and it sets Rose’s teeth on edge. _”Rey needs a temporary copilot.”_  
_”But we need Rose here! She holds us ground crew together.”_  
_”Nothing I can do about it. To be honest, I don’t know why she asked Rose. There are experienced pilots she could have chosen instead of a grease— sorry. No offence.”_  
Rose clamps her mouth firmly closed, mollified at least the the look on Riva’s face has probably been enough to shut Poe up.  
_”Well. Rose is—”_  
_”Hey, is my X-Wing ready to fly? Because I—”_

Rose doesn’t hear any more. She waits until she’s sure Dameron is gone before clambering out of the A-Wing and updating its service log. When she thinks back over Dameron’s words, she’s not sure whether to cry or throw something heavy at the wall. Pae-Pae has no advice to give other than some half-remembered words from long ago: _You gotta take some risks and accept some responsibility, Rose!_

Rose doesn’t feel like socialising over dinner. She collects her portion of food—there’s real bread today—and hides round the side of the squat hangar while it is still warm enough and light enough to sit outside. She can see the flank of the Millennium Falcon from her spot and she frowns at it. Voices drift on the breeze. There are two people nearby, hidden from view around by the front of the hangar.

 _”Oh, Rey. Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?”_  
_”I feel it, Leia. It’s the right choice.”_  
_”She’s so young and—”_  
_”She’s older than me! I think. And you’re not telling me not to go.”_  
_”But you’re a Jedi! You’ve found your place in the Force. And Rose... well. Rose just lost so much. Will you at least consider asking one of the experienced pilots instead?”_  
_”I’ll think about it.”_  
_”Thank you. We better go back in. It will get cold soon.”_

Rose hears the door clang shut and that is when she cries.

She’s chased inside eventually by chill air. Finn is smiling at her and showing off his calf, newly healed by the bacta-filled cast he’s been in for the past few hours. She’d been right: there’s a scar and it is getting admiring glances. Rose sits in the space Finn makes for her and kisses his cheek when he offers it. He sits back and takes her hand in his.  
“So what’s this I hear about your new job?”  
Rose rolls her eyes. “Not you too. It’s only been a few hours and I have not said yes or no. I’m thinking about it.”  
“You should stay. You’re a great engineer and it’s pretty safe.” Finn is looking around the hall that serves as refectory and recreation room. “You think Rey will stay for a while too? Maybe until Chewie gets back?”  
Rose’s grip on Finn’s hand tightens as she tenses. She pulls her hand away and meets Finn’s confusion with a glare.  
“I will make my own mind up, thank you very much.” Rose stands up. “I’m tired. See you in the morning.”

Rose finds Rey on the ramp of the Millennium Falcon. They are both bundled up against the night-time cold and Rey gestures at Rose to follow her. Once the ramp closes snug against the door, they shed their outer layers.  
“So... this is it,” says Rey. “The Millennium Falcon. Made the Kessel Run in—“  
“Twelve point four parsecs, I know.”  
“Han said it rounds down to twelve,” says Rey with a smile at her memory of the gruff, grey-haired man. Rose waits until Rey is ready to move on.  
“I’ve studies the schematics,” says Rose. “This ship is...”  
“Special?” Rey’s eyes sparkle.  
“You could say that!” Rose smiles for a second. “Look, I have to ask. Why me? All I’ve heard today are people saying I’m not good enough for this.”  
“Do you believe them?”  
Rose grips her crescent of Haysian Smelt. Words echo in her mind. _Take risks. Accept responsibility._ Rose shakes her head and her mind is made up. She gives Rey a nod.  
“When do we leave?”


End file.
